Merchandise display rack



Patented Sept. 18, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFECE MERCHANDISE DISPLAYRACK William G. Hoffman, Seuth Orange, and Walter Hartig, Newark, N. J,

, assignors to Hoffman Beverage Company, Newark, N. J., a corporation ofNew Jersey Application March 15, 1933, Serial No. 660,808

10 Claims.

This invention relates to merchandise display racks and has particularreference to a rack in produce which he wants while waiting to be Waitedon by the clerk in the store. To this end various forms of display racksfor merchandise have been provided, but so far as we are aware nosuccessful display rack has been provided for distributing bottledbeverages.

In accordance with the present invention a display rack for bottledbeverages is provided which is arranged so that the beverages arebrought to the attention of the prospective purchaser in a striking andattractive manner, and which alsois arranged so that the prospectivepurchaser may personally select and withdraw the bottled beverage whichhe wishes to purchase. The new rack holds the bottles securely againstdisplacement and injury, illuminates them in an attractive andconspicuous way, and is so con* structed that the supports in which thebottles are mounted and which are likelyrto become soiled are readilyremovable for cleaning.

The new display rack of this invention comprises a frame havingvertically spaced sets of cleats which slope toward the rear of the'rackand upon which are slidably mounted a series of removable trays havingrails upon their upper surfaces which engage the bottom and sides or thebottle so as to hold it securely and having corresponding rails on theirlower surfaces which align vertically with the rails in the tray belowfor securely holding the upper ends of the bottles whichare supported inthe rails on the tray below. Preferably these trays are of progressivelyincreasing lengths from the top to the bottom of the rack, so that thelower trays hold more bottles than the upper trays and greater stabilityof the rack is accordingly provided, even though more bottles areremoved from the lower trays than from the upper trays, and. thedifierence in demand of the beverages is compensated for.

Each of the trays is preferably made of metal or some other suitablematerial which can be kept sanitary by immersion in or treatment with asuitable cleaning fluid, or the like, and the trays are standardized sothat they are readily interchangeable with the corresponding trays (itother racks. The front of each tray is provided with a receptacle forelectric lamps, which are located behind atransparent or translucentscreen provided with a suitable legend for identifying the particularbeverage placed in the corresponding tray, or the like. These lamps areconnectible to a suitable source of power by means of a separableelectrical connector, which, when the trays are to be removed forcleaning or any other purpose, may be readily disconnected and asreadily reconnected'when the corresponding trays are replaced.

It will be seen that the new display rack of this invention is completein itself and readily portable, so that it may be placed at anyconvenient point in a distributors store, or the like, where it will bereadily noticed by a prospective purchaser who enters the store for thepurpose of purchasing abottled beverage or other products, theillumination provided in the trays being so arranged that the bottledbeverages located in the adjacent tray are illuminated as well as thosein the corresponding tray, so that the bottles appear to be luminous andprovide'as'triking and attractive display. Although the rack may bearranged to hold practicallyany number of beverage bottles, it is stablebecause of the pyramidal arrangement of the bottles in the trays. Alsothe rearward slope of the trays causes the beverage bottles to engageeach other from front to rear so that a practically solid mass isprovided in each tray, whereby rattling of the bottles, due tovibrations in the store, is prevented, anddislodgement of the bottlesfrom the rack, due to jarring of the rack or other causes, is alsoeliminated.

For a more complete understanding of the invention reference may be hadto the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a front elevation ofthe new display rack of this invention;

Figure 2 is a vertical section therethrough, as seen along the line 2'2of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a plan view of one of the individual trays of the rack,showing the arrangement of the bottle-supporting rails;

Figure 4 is a bottom view of one of the individual trays, showing thearrangement of the rails for holding the upper ends of the bottlessupported on the tray below and the arrangement of the illuminatinglamps; and

Figure 5 is a transverse section through one of til ilo

the trays, as seen along the line 5-5 of Figure 3,

and illustrates the relationship between the upper and lower ends of thebottles in the adjacent trays.

In these drawings, numeral 10 designates the rack which may be made ofmetal, wood, or other suitable material, and which comprises a rearpanel' 11 connected to substantially triangular side walls 12, which arejoined with the rear panel 11 to the top piece 13 and to the open bottompiece 14, which carries the casters 15, or the like, and supports therack 10 on the floor. The lower front edges of the side walls 12 areconnected by a lower front panel 16.

The inner surfaces of the opposite side walls 12 are provided atvertically spaced points with cleats 17, upon which rest thebottle-holding trays 18. The cleats 17 slope rearwardly, so that thebottles supported on the trays 18naturally incline rearwardly and tendto slide by gravity into positive engagement with each other, as isillustrated especially in Figure 2. I

The trays 18 are preferably made of metal so that they may be readilykept sanitary by immersion in or treatment with a suitable cleaning orsterilizing fluid or liquid. These trays 18 are provided on their upperand lower surfaces with a series of rails, the rails on the uppersurfaces of the trays being provided for holding the lower ends of thebottles, and the rails on the lower surfaces of the trays being providedfor holding the upper ends of the bottles supported on the trayimmediately below.

These upper and lower rails are supported on a box-like frame comprisingside pieces 19, connected by an inclined rear piece 20, and a frontpiece 21 which is generally channel-shaped in cross-section with theopening of the channel below, so as to provide the transverse receptacle22 extending along the front of each tray. The aforementioned upperrails include a center rail or track 23 extending between the front andrear pieces 20 and 21 of the tray and overlapping the front piece 21, asis shown especially in Figure 3. It is upon this rail 22 that thebottles rest and because the rail is of small surface area the bottlesmay he slid readily along it without mate rial resistance.

Also extending between front and rear pieces 21 and 20 and spacedlaterally from adjacent center rails 23 are spaced side rails 24, thefront ends of which overlap the front piece 21 and the rear ends ofwhich are displaced laterally from their front ends and extend partlyalong the corresponding center rails 23, being connected to the saidfront ends by a bow having a curvature substantially corresponding tothe curvature of the bottom of the beverage bottle. The spacing of thebow of each side rail 24 from the rear of the tray is such as tocompensate for the rearward slope of the bottles, as illustrated inFigure '2; that is to say, the bow of the side rail 24 engages the rearbottle in such a way that the upper. end of the latter is located nearthe rear panel 11, so that the rear bottle is securely held despite itsinclined position resulting from the declination of the tray, I

As illustrated especially in Figures 3 and 5, the opposite sides of theside rails 24 cooperate with corresponding sides of the bottles arrangedin adjacent rows, so that the bottles are not only supported on thecenter rails 23, but their sides are closely engaged by the side rails24 whereby the bottles are securely held against lateral movement.

The lower edge of each center rail 23 lies adjacent the caps or upperends of the bottles mounted in the tray below, as illustrated especiallyin Figures 2 and 5. The spacing between the lower surface of center rail23 of an upper tray and the upper surface of the corresponding centerrail 23 of the tray below is such that the bottles cannot be raised highenough to clear the upper edges of the corresponding rails 24, so thatthe bottles cannot be tilted sidewise or strike against the bottles inthe adjacent rows. Located diagonally below each center rail 23 are twospaced side rails 25, which extend between front and rear pieces 21 and20 of the tray and are located at an angle with respect to each other,so that they substantially confine the caps or upper ends of the bottlesin the tray below, but do not resist the placement or removal of bottlestherein.

The rear ledge 26 of the channel-shaped front piece 21 of the trayextends below the lower edges of center rails 23 and below the upperends or caps of the bottles supported on the tray below, so that inorder to insert bottles in the tray,'the upper ends of the bottles mustbe placed behind ledge 28 before the lower ends of the bottles may beseated on the center rail 23 between the side rails 24 of the traybelow. Conversely, when the bottles are removed, the lower ends thereofmust.

be withdrawn first before the upper ends thereof will clear the ledge26. This arrangement insures that the bottles will not topple outwardlyeven if they are incorrectly placed in the tray below.

The front panel of each tray, i. e., the front wall of thechannel-shaped front piece 21 is slotted. horizontally or longitudinallyand fitted with a glass, stencil, or other partially transparent ortranslucent plate 27, which bears suitable legends identifying thefiavor, characteristic, or the like-of the beverages mounted on thecorresponding tray. Within the receptacle 22 formed in thechannel-shaped front piece 21 are located .a plurality of electric lampsockets 28 for the reception of electric lamps 29 which are wired inseries or parallel and connected to one element 30 of a separableelectric connector, the other element of which is connected to a supplywire extending through an opening 31 in the rear piece 20 of the tray.This supply wire and the corresponding element of the electricalconnector are not shown, but are of conventional design and areconnected to a suitable source of power.

In order to protect the lamps 29 from injury by the inadvertentinsertion'of the top of a bottle in receptacle 22 while the bottle isbeing placed in or withdrawn from the rack, a guard, screen or shield 37of sheet metal, or the like, is placed across the open side of the lampreceptacle 22, as illustrated in Figures 2 and 4. In order to let thelight through and to provide ventilation for receptacle 22, the guard,screen or shield 37 is provided with slots, shown in Figure 4, whichmust be narrower or smaller than the dimensions of the caps of thebottles in order to serve the purpose intended. Obviously, the guard,screen or shield 37 may be otherwise apertured or perforated, dependingupon requirements.

The trays 18 are all constructed in the manner described except thatthey are of progressively decreasing lengths so as to conform to thegenerally pyramidal shape of the rack 10. The lengths of the trays, ofcourse, govern the number of bottles which they will hold. For instance,the larger or lower tray may hold four bottles in each row, the secondor middle tray three bottles in each row, and the upper tray two bottlesin each row. 1'

The upper ends of the bottles resting on the upper tray are engagedbetween rails 23' and 25, which correspond to rails 23' and 25,respectively, on the under side of each of the trays. These rails 23 and25 extend between rear panel 1-1 of the rack 10 and a strip 32 securedacross the upper end of the rack 10 and formingwith an apertured frontpiece 33 a receptacle 34 containing lamps 35 arranged in the same way asthe lamps 29 in the receptacles 22 of the corresponding trays 18 arearranged. A guard, screen or shield 37 extends across-the open side ofrecep- 1 tacle 34 and serves the same purpose'as guard 37 on tray 18.The front piece 33 is provided with a glass, stencil, or othertransparent or translucent panel 36, which may bear the name'of themanufacturer or the trade name of the beverages displayed in the rackand which is illuminated downwardly through the openings in the guard3'7 upon the bottles resting on the upper tray 13. Although these parts23', 25', 32, 33, 35, 36 and 37' have been described as being fixed tothe rack 10, they may form a removable unit like the trays 18, ifdesired.

In use, the new display rack of this invention is placed at aconspicuous place where the merchandise carried thereby will be readilyvisible and accessible to a prospective purchaser. The trays 18 are slidin position on the appropriate cleats 1'7 and the supply wires passedthrough openings 31 in the trays and connected to the connector element30, so as to illuminate the legends carried by the panels 27 thereof.The beverage bottles, properly classified as to flavor, or the like, inaccordance with the legends on panels 2'7, are then placed in the trays,the upper ends thereof being first introduced between rails 25 and theirlower ends then being placed between rails 24, so that the bottles restupon rails 23 and slide to the rear of the trays as determined by thebows of rails 24.

Because the bottles are closely confined between rails 23 and 24 and theoverhead rails 23 and 25 or 23 and 25', they cannot ride up on rails 24to strike the bottles of the adjacent rows or be otherwise displaced, sothat the liability of breakage of the bottles is reduced to a minimum.Also, because the front end of each center rail 23 projects above theupper surface of front piece 21, which it overlaps, the finished uppersurface of front piece 21 will not be marred or discolored as the resultof removal and replacement of bottles.

The light issuing from lamps 29 and 35 is reflected downwardly throughthe openings in the guards 3'7 and 37' respectively, so as to illuminatethe contents of the bottles, the rays of the lamps not only illuminatingthe bottles immediately below them, but also illuminating the bottoms ofthe bottles immediately above, so that all of the bottles areilluminated, and, because of their nature, they assume a luminousappearance which is very striking and attractive.

Although the trays contain different numbers of bottles and the rack ispyramidal in shape, the bottles on the lower trays do not extend beyondthe front edges of the tray next above because of the inclination of thetrays, so that the bottles are protected against injury, are not readilydislodged and are shielded against falling dust and other material. Thispyramidal arrangement provides the rack with great stability and permitsthe arrangement of'the beverages to compensate for the varying demandfor the different flavors.

stooping to read labels is unnecessary.

1 'While a preferred embodiment of the invention has'been illustratedand described herein, it is to beunderstocd that the invention is notlimited thereby, but is susceptible of changes in form anddetail'within-its scope.

We claim: 1. In a display rack, the combination of a frame, a traymounted on the frame and sloping '90 'rearwardlyf'guides on the tray forsupporting a engaging the rear article of the corresponding row to braceit in the said incline-:1 position. by the lamps 35, the rays of whichare reflected .2. In a display rack, the combination of i a frame, atray mounted on the frame, spaced guides on the tray engaging the sidesof articles and between which articles are supported in an uprightinclined position in rows, and a lateral extension on each guide forengaging the rearmost article in the corresponding row.

3. In a display rack, the combination of a frame, an inclined traymounted on the frame, spaced guides on the tray engaging the sides ofarticles and between which articles are supported in an upright inclinedposition in rows, and a lateral extension on each guide spaced from therear of the tray for engaging the rearmost article of the correspondingrow to compensate for the inclination of the article in that row.

4. In a display rack, the combination of a frame, an inclined traymounted on the frame, spaced guides on the tray between which articlesare held in an upright inclined position in rows, a rail betweenadjacent guides upon which the weight of the articles is supported, anda stop engaging the last article in each row to compensate for theinclination of the articles in that row.

5. In a display rack, the combination of a frame, an inclined traymounted on the frame, spaced guides on the tray between which articlesare held in an upright inclined position in rows, a rail betweenadjacent guides upon which the 125 weight of the articles is supported,and a lateral projection on each guide for limiting the rearwardmovement of the rearmost article in the corresponding row.

6. In a display rack, the combination of a 130 frame, a tray mounted onthe frame, spacedrails on the tray upon which the weight of articles issupported, and spaced guides on the tray having a portion extendingsubstantially parallel to and between adjacent rails for confining thearticles in rows in upright position, said guides each having anotherportion partially extending along the adjacent rail and connected to thesaid parallel portion by a bow having substantially the configuration ofthe adjacent article in the corresponding row.

7. In a display rack, the combination of a frame, a plurality ofsubstantially like trays removably mounted on the frame in spacedsuperposed relation, means on the upper surface of a lower tray forsupporting a plurality of articles in an upright inclined position withthe articles extending in a row from thefront to the back of the tray,and means on the lower surface of the adjacent upper tray for receivingthe upper 150 ends of the row of articles supported on the tray below.

8. In a display rack, the combination of a frame, a plurality ofsubstantially like trays removably mounted on the frame in spacedsuperposed relation, substantially parallel guides on the upper surfaceof a lower tray for independently supporting a plurality of articles ina substantially upright position with the articles extending in a rowfrom the front to the back of the tray, and substantially parallelguides on the lower surface of the adjacent upper tray aligned with theguides of the lower tray for receiving the upper ends of the row ofarticles supported in the guides of the tray below.

9. In a display rack, the combination of a frame, a plurality ofsubstantially like trays removably mounted on the frame in spacedsuperposed relation, said trays being arranged in rearwardly inclinedposition, guides on the upper surface of a lower tray for independentlyholding a row of articles in an upright inclined position, a stopengaging the rearmost article of the tray, and guides on the lowersurface of the adjacent upper tray aligned with the guides of the lower.tray for receiving the upper ends of the row of articles supported inthe guides of the tray below.

10. In a display device, the combination of a frame, a plurality ofremovable trays supported in spaced superposed relation on the frame,means on the top of each tray for independently supporting a row ofarticles in an upright inclined position, means on the bottom of eachtray for receiving the upper ends of the row of articles on the traybelow, and means on the rear of each tray for engaging the rearmostarticle of each row to compensate for the inclination of the articles.

WILLIAM G. HOFFMAN. WALTER HARTIG.

